BBC iPlayer adding Live Restart to Sky, Virgin and Freesat (updated)

The iPlayer’s Live Restart is coming to TVs as the BBC extends the instant telly timeshifting feature to net-connected Sky, Virgin and Freesat boxes.

The BBC is adding the Live Restart feature to the iPlayer portal running on Virgin Media and Freesat set-top boxes. A launch on Sky is also expected, following the satellite broadcaster’s recent revamp of its On Demand feature to add a Catch Up TV section.

UPDATE: Our original report gave a start date of 15 October for this feature. The BBC has since clarified to us that the Connected Red Button services will instead be starting on selected TV-based platforms "soon".

Live Restart was unveiled in June this year on the desktop PC version of iPlayer. It enables viewers to jump back to the start of a BBC programme that’s currently being shown. Before its introduction, you had to wait for a show to finish before it was uploaded to iPlayer.

It is similar in theory to the live TV buffer feature in PVRs, but your
set-top box would need to be on and have one of its tuners switched to
the channel on which you wanted to skip back in time, so the Beeb's update is arguably more flexible and convenient. With the Live
Restart function you can choose from or switch between any available live BBC TV feed.

So, if you missed the beginning of a programme, you can now launch the app from the newly updated Red Button menu on any compatible broadband-connected set-top box and catch the show without missing anything or having to wait until it’s over.

From 15 October the number of Red Button video
streams from the BBC is being reduced, though the BBC plans a few extra
features to accompany certain shows, such as a live commentary for
Strictly Come Dancing and a play-along game for Antiques Roadshow, as
well as special sport and music events.

Sky's new Catch Up TV section

Live Restart has not yet made its way onto the iPlayer apps for mobiles, tablets, Smart TVs, consoles or Freeview HD boxes but the BBC has previously hinted that updates are in the pipeline.